Theseus

The sculpture is created from a broken 19th-century Minton Parian porcelain bust and mixed media. Theseus is part of Bouke de Vries’s series Threads of my Life, a contemporary reinterpretation of the Greek mythological story of Theseus and Ariadne, with the central theme of a ball of yarn, Ariadne’s gift to Theseus.

Courtesy of the private collection of Matteo Giannelli

● Type: Sculpture
● Material: Porcelain, mixed media
● Date: 2014

In Greek mythology, Ariadne was a Cretan princess in love with the Greek hero Theseus. When Theseus went to slay the Cretan Minotaur that lived in a labyrinth, Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of yarn so that he could easily find his way out. In Bouke de Vries’s work, the ball of thread becomes a metaphor for the quest for freedom. Through his sculptural practice of deconstructing and reconstructing porcelain fragments, Bouke brings the characters of this ancient story back to life.

Porcelain VirtuosityExhibition